Mendy enjoyed his job at Elegant Touch Catering (ETC). His primary
responsibilities were in the office, but his sharp eye was noticed by Rabbi Ephraim Rubin, the caterer’s veteran mashgiach, who needed extra help
with vegetable checking. Finding people with the skill and acumen to determine
acceptability of leafy greens, especially in the pressurized environment of a
commercial kitchen, was a challenge for Rabbi Rubin and he was eager to recruit
Mendy as an assistant.

After two months of training, and
hours squinting in the harsh glow of a light box covered by microfiber mesh
cloth, Mendy became adept at detecting tiny translucent thrips
and aphids hiding in the folds and crevices of romaine, kale, broccoli, dill,
and parsley. Finally, the STAR-K Kashrus Administrator overseeing foodservice establishments
approved him as a vegetable checker. Eventually, Mendy finely honed his skills to
the point of finding insects in vegetables that were
previously checked by fellow workers. This forced everyone in the kitchen to
upgrade their vigilance.

♦
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Mendy decided to expand his kosher
credentials, and began accompanying Rabbi Rubin to off-site venues where the
non-kosher kitchen was kashered2 before an event. For weddings, bar mitzvahs, and other standard occasions, all the food was prepared in the
commissary and only required re-heating. Consequently, it was sufficient for
the kashering team to arrive just a few hours in advance.
Mendy quickly picked up the routine, and he found it useful to draft a
checklist of general tasks. [See Sidebar]

Mendy learned that kashering was much easier than he previously assumed. The difficult part is the
preparatory work, making sure everything is completely clean. Kasheringis
ineffective when bits of grime, grease or rust remain on a utensil. Although hotel
managers are reminded to thoroughly clean the kitchen, Mendy frequently observed
how Rabbi Rubin would gently explain to kitchen staff that the job was not yet
complete. Our kosher standards of cleanliness exceed what is normally
acceptable by their standards. When preparing to kasher, the proper instruction is to clean the equipment until it looks like
new!

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

Once, while setting
up a kitchen at a country club for a wedding, Mendy noticed that some of the soup
servers coming off the caterer’s truck were marked in blue paint with the
letter “D”, denoting ‘Dairy’. Since it would take two hours for fleishig (meat) pots to be delivered from the commissary, Mendy thought
valuable time could be saved by merely kasheringthe milchig (dairy) pots. He verified that they weren’t
used during the previous 24 hours, and carefully checked for cleanliness,
especially the area around the rim where food particles can get stuck. Mendy was
familiar with the custom not to kasher back and
forth from dairy to meat and vice-versa;3 he
also knew the work-around. Pots could be
rendered non-kosher, and when subsequently kashered they could be designated with any status (meat, dairy, pareve).4 He
asked the head waiter for a bottle of non-kosher wine and an empty #10 ketchup
can in which to heat the wine. Pouring hot wine into the dairy pots would render
them non-kosher.

Proud of his quick thinking, Mendy
went to Rabbi Rubin for approval before proceeding. His satisfaction quickly
faded when the rabbi reminded him that the pots were un-kasherable because of the paint markings. Chazal never discussed a method to kasher paint and, therefore, we must assume that
any non-kosher (or dairy or meat) absorptions cannot be extracted from the
paint layer.5
In addition, as a matter of policy to prevent mistakes, pots are generally not kasheredon
the day of an event. Mendy humbly acknowledged that he still had more to learn.

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

One year after adopting his
new role, Mendy received a call from the president of B’nei Israel Congregation. He wanted ETC to cater their upcoming weekend retreat at
a resort in the mountains of Western Maryland. Mendy’s
first question was whether or not the facilities were Shabbos compliant, and specifically, whether the electronic door locks could
be bypassed. Due to the large group in attendance, STAR-K required that three mashgichim be present throughout the event. Allowing
ample time for any unexpected surprises, Rabbi Rubin and Mendy
planned to kasher the kitchen early, on the previous
Wednesday.

Standard procedure is to kasher only devices used for re-heating food, or
for cold food preparation. ETC submitted a request to their STAR-K administrator
to permit kasheringthe
resort’s deep fryer so that fried chicken and potatoes could be prepared fresh
for Sunday dinner. The request was granted as the kasheringprocess would begin three
days prior to the event. Consideration was also given to the knowledge and
expertise of ETC’s mashgichim. This
decision was contingent upon the cleanliness of the fryer.

Late Tuesday night, Mendy
received a telephone call from Rabbi Rubin. His son just became a chosson! The rabbi informed Mendy that in the
morning, he would be travelling to New York for the l’chaim. He added, “I already called the Rav HaMachshirand he gave his approval for you to handle the kashering.
I’m really sorry about this, but I know that you’ll be fine without me. ”

“But,”
protested Mendy, “I’ve never kashered a fryer by myself!”

Rabbi Rubin had full
confidence in his protégé, knowing that Mendy was studying the halachos of kasheringin
the evenings after work. “Call me from the resort and we’ll work it out
together.” The next morning, MendydavenedShacharis with
intense kavanah
that everything should go smoothly.

It was hard to find another available
mashgiach on such short notice. In
the end, Mendy found his neighbor Yossi, who was home from yeshiva and
had some catering experience working during beinhaz’manim. Arriving at noon, they stopped at the
office and went straight to the kitchen. From the first moment, Mendy knew things
were not going to go smoothly. He waited patiently as the kitchen manager showed
them around, boasting about the cleanliness. Then, pointing to some otherwise
innocuous looking streaks and rust spots,6 Mendy explained in the most
delicate terms that although by industry standards it was a clean kitchen, by
kosher standards there was still work left to be done. “We need everything to
be clean and looking like new!”

The cleaning team was brought in and got down to work. Mendy and Yossi filled
two large 100 quart pots from the commissary with water and turned on the fire.
Mendy told Yossi, “It will take a while for these pots to boil, so let’s get
started on something else.”

“Let’s add salt to the water to help speed up the boiling,” suggested
Yossi. “That’s what my mother does at home.”

“No,” answered Mendy. “Rabbi Rubin always says the kashering
water must be pure.”

Just then, Rabbi Rubin called. “How is everything going?” Mendy
reported on the current state of affairs and what had been accomplished up until
then. He then mentioned Yossi’s suggestion about the salt. Rabbi Rubin
explained that since there is a disagreement in the Poskim
about whether kashering is effective with
liquids other than water, we are careful to kasher
with plain water only.7 “However,” added Rabbi Rubin,
“there are other ways to speed up the water boiling, such as covering the pots.”8

Rabbi Rubin continued, “Assuming that you are using a standard
commercial gas stove with 30 thousand BTU per burner, and each pot was filled with
24 gallons of water, you easily have more than an hour until they boil.” Rabbi Rubin
was fond of displaying his technical knowledge. “Perhaps now is a good time to
look at the deep fryer. Please keep me posted.”

Mendy and Yossi moved away from the hot and humid area around the stove,
past the busy workers who were scrubbing and scraping, and went to inspect the
fryer. “I hope you fellows won’t be poking around there with a blow torch, like
I saw a rabbi do one time,” remarked a nearby resort maintenance worker. “That Frialator cost $2500 plus installation, and we take mighty
good care of it.”

Essentially, the fryer is a big pot filled with oil that has baskets
inserted inside to hold the food. In this older model, fire shoots through two gas-powered
heating tubes sitting near the bottom which quickly heat oil to a high
temperature. Mendy was grateful that the fryer was in excellent condition, and
was as clean as one could expect for a machine that could hold 90 pounds of
sizzling oil. Judging from the recipe card for fried shrimp hanging on the
wall, this piece of equipment was bona fide not kosher. Mendy ran his finger around
the walls and the bottom of the fryer and, to his surprise, it was free of
grease. He surmised that they must use a powerful de-greaser to clean it.
Therefore, it could be kasheredby simply
filling it with water and turning on the heat.

Revisiting the pots on the stove, Mendy lifted the lid and peered in to
see how far it had progressed towards boiling. He saw bubbles forming, and
estimated that it was almost ready. Meanwhile, Yossi had returned to the office
to retrieve his knapsack and took out an infrared heat gun that he purchased
for his last hashgacha job. After adjusting
the setting for stainless steel pots, he pointed the beam inside the water.
“Only 205°F,” he shouted over the kitchen noise. “I think it still needs a
while yet to go.”

“Temperature doesn’t matter,” Mendy responded. “Look at the bubbles.”

“What do you mean?” Yossi said hotly. “The Rav HaMachshir
for whom I usually work insists that kashering
water must be 212°F. Feel free to use a lower standard, but don’t involve me!”

“My dear Yossi,” replied Mendy. “If you want to wait until this pot
reaches 212°F, Moshiach will arrive and you’ll
still be waiting! 212°F is the temperature of boiling water at sea level. But
we’re in the mountains, where the atmospheric pressure is lower. At our
elevation of 2700 feet, water boils at just 207°F.”

Mendy continued his point. “The halacha is clear that hagolah (purging with hot water) removes beliyos, absorbed tastes, through the bubbling
action.9 The type of heat
source is significant, but not the temperature. That’s why boiling water
can kasheritems that usually operate
at much higher temperatures.10 For instance, oil in a deep
fryer reaches 400°F, and liquid in a pressure cooker reaches 600°F. Both items
are kasheredthrough boiling water,
because the risicha, bubbling, is what works.11 The opposite also holds true,”
explained Mendy. “If you were kasheringat
a hotel near the Dead Sea, which is almost 1400 feet below sea level, you would
need to wait until the water boils at 214°F.”

As Yossi nodded his head to indicate his understanding, Mendy’s phone rang. It was Rabbi Rubin. Over the music and
singing in the background, the rabbi asked about the state of the deep fryer.
He was relieved to hear how clean it was. “Excellent,” remarked Rabbi Rubin. “By
the way, did you check the heating tubes?”

“No,” answered Mendy. “I carefully examined the cooking chamber, but I
didn’t think to check those tubes. I’ll go take a look right now.” Phone to his
ear, Mendy looked in and noticed some black specks on the heating tubes, which
felt slightly raised when he rubbed his hand over
them. “Are they a problem?” he asked.

“Yes,” said Rabbi Rubin. “Frying generates an intense heat, which
produces carbon that can become embedded on the tubes. Degreasers don’t remove
them, and we can’t kasherwith hagolahas long as they remain. The only effective
method that I know of is to boil pure ammonia in the fryer for 20 minutes.12 No need to fill it all the
way, just above the level of the tubes is good enough. If this works, you can
then kasherusing plain boiling water
afterwards. Remember that you must also kasherthe outside of the fryer, by letting the boiling water cascade over the
sides. Hatzlacha, I wish you success!”

By now, it was already evening and Mendy and Yossi took a break to davenmincha. When
they returned, the cleaning team was putting away their supplies and preparing
to leave. Mendy felt bad asking them to stay to take care of yet another task,
but he had no other option. The maintenance technician was relieved that no
blow torches were being used, but wasn’t quite sure what to make of the ammonia
plan. As they were bringing ammonia from the secure chemical room, Mendy’s phone rang. It was Rabbi Rubin again. What could he
want?

With urgency in his voice, Rabbi Rubin said, “And make sure to open all
the windows and turn on the exhaust fan. The last time we boiled ammonia, one
of the workers passed out on the floor from the fumes! We carried him out to
fresh air and he was okay, but don’t take any chances. Also, it’s important
that the drain, hoses and gaskets on the bottom of the fryer be thoroughly cleaned.
They’re probably full of non-kosher grease and will affect the kosher status of
whatever is fried inside.” Mendy heard someone shout, “L’chaim!”
and the phone connection was broken.

It was already very late by the time the kitchen was satisfactorily kashered. The doors were sealed with tamper-proof
tape to ensure that the kosher status remained intact until Friday. On Friday
afternoon, Mendy was walking outside near the resort lobby as cars pulled up.
He spotted Rabbi Rubin’s car and ran over shouting “Mazel Tov!” as he
gave the rabbi a hug.

“Congratulations to you!” exclaimed Rabbi Rubin. “For the fabulous job
you did kashering the kitchen!”

♦
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

1.Adapted from a shiur
delivered by Rabbi Shmuel Heinemann at the STAR-K FOODSERVICE MASHGIACH
TRAINING SEMINAR, July 2013. Rabbi Mayer Kurcfeld, an invaluable
resource in the area of foodservice hashgachawith a wealth of practical knowledge, also contributed to this article.

2.
This is the Yiddish term for making equipment and utensils fit for kosher use. The
procedure employed depends on how the utensil was used. Hagolah,
libunchamur and libunkal, or iruy are various methodsof kashering.

3.MishnaBerurah,
451:19, quoting Magen Avraham 509:11. He cites the ChasamSofer (Shu”t
Y.D. 110) who says that when kasheringfor
Pesach one may also switch the dairy/meat designation. Common practice dictates
that this minhagapplies only when kasheringwith hagolah,
but not libun. (See She’arimMitzyunimB’Halacha 46:15
and Chelkas Binyamin 121:33.)

5.
This is a concern when kasheringwith hagolah, which works by drawing out the tastes absorbed
in the walls of the utensil. In contrast, libungamurburns absorptions in their place
and works in almost all circumstances.

7.Rema, Orach Chaim,
552:5.This policy is most relevant when producing pareve chocolate on equipment previously used for dairy, since chocolate
producers avoid introducing water into their equipment. Therefore, STAR-K
certifies chocolate as pareve only when
produced on a dedicated line.

8.
Applying heat on the sides of the pot with a propane torch can also help speed
things along.

10.
See KitzurShulchanAruch(RavAharon
Pfeifer) BasarB’chalavII, Appendix 1, in the name of Rav Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach.

11.
In some specialized equipment, such as reactors found in flavor companies which
operate in a near vacuum, water will bubble furiously at a mere 60°F, cool to
the touch. In this situation, we require at least a temperature of yadsoledesbo, which here can be assumed
to be 120°F.

12.
The non-sudsing type should be used. Otherwise, it will
bubble over and all of the ammonia will boil out. Without liquid inside, the
fryer will be ruined.